Outcomes of the review of the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant

Purpose:

The decision required is to make a number of
changes , including to the Funding for Inclusion scheme, in order
to bring the High Needs Block of the Dedicated schools grant into a
balanced position.

Decision:

The Director of Children & Families
agreed:

•
To cease to fund the Teenage Pregnancy Support Service from the
High Needs Block, and fund it instead from an alternative source;
please note that this was approved by the Schools Forum at November
17 after unanimous agreement from stakeholders and has already been
implemented, achieving a saving of £216k per year from the
HNB. This saving has already been factored into the 2018/19 budget
proposals for Children and Families.

•
To revise the Funding for Inclusion (FFI) unit value to £600
(from the current £684). This will achieve an estimated
saving of £1.511m (estimates based on position at January 18
and subject to change). This will not apply to Specialist Inclusive
Learning Centres, as this would not be equitable given the
disproportionate effect it would have on their budgets (as all
learners therein will have complex SEND needs and are highly likely
to be eligible for FFI).

•
To revise the system of awarding of additional blocks of funding to
mainstream schools to supplement their notional inclusion budget,
where they have significant numbers of learners who have higher
level support needs which will exceed costs of £6k, and who
will be eligible for FFI. Currently, mainstream schools are asked
to spend a minimum of 40% of their total notional inclusion budget
on providing the blocks of the first £6k to meet the support
needs of these learners, before any additional blocks of £6k
to supplement their notional inclusion budget will be awarded. The
proposed revision is to increase the minimum to 50% of the total
notional inclusion budget. This will achieve an estimated saving of
£492k (estimates based on position at January 18 and subject
to change).

•
In light of concerns raised at Schools Forum regarding the impact
of the proposed savings on schools with significant numbers of
pupils with SEND, the Council is proposing to mitigate this by
applying transitional protection to limit individual school
reductions in 2018/19 to 1.5% of the sum of baseline and high needs
funding. Capping losses in this way
will reduce the savings by an estimated £62k.

Reason Key: Expenditure > £250,000;

Wards Affected: (All Wards);

Other reasons / organisations consulted

A number of options for making savings have
been developed and these are being consulted on with
representatives from schools and settings in September 2017. The
results of this process will then be considered by the Schools
Forum as a further round of consultation.